Diversity is obviously not a problem in Islam, and although this is true, diversity must necessarily have limits as well. Islam allows for great diversity within generous limits. Muslim scholars in the past and today have constantly spoke of unity through diversity. That there are four schools of thought in Sunni Islam, each viewing the other as completely valid, is a proof of this. I remember attending a conference on this particular subject.

Diversity is obviously not a problem in Islam, and although this is true, diversity must necessarily have limits as well. Islam allows for great diversity within generous limits. Muslim scholars in the past and today have constantly spoke of unity through diversity. That there are four schools of thought in Sunni Islam, each viewing the other as completely valid, is a proof of this. I remember attending a conference on this particular subject.

By modern standards, Mohammed was a pedophile. That, if nothing else, renders Islam invalid by modern standards. All your bluster can’t alter that. Islam has no place in the modern world.

I beg to differ on this reasoning. An equivalent would be to say that since Thomas Jefferson was a slave owner, this renders the Declaration of Independence invalid. What does render Islam invalid in the modern world isn’t the behavior of a 7th century individual who for his time lived an honorable life, it is the fact that Muslims today want to retain 7th century standards rather than adapt to modern ones. And we know that in the long run, those who don’t adapt to change will die out.

Jack, that’s a reasonable response to my post, so I’ll ask you some reasonable questions in return. How would you address members of the umma who want to return to the 7th century? The al-Bannas of this world who want to see the expulsion of western liberalism from Muslim lands, if not its outright destruction? How would you treat their romantic attachment to a past golden age?

I personally don’t like many of the features of western culture, particularly its short-sightedness, greed, hedonism, wastefulness, destructiveness and violence. What I do like about western culture is its openness, fairness, liberality and tolerance. Islamic culture evinces few of these virtues at the present time, though it evinces many of the worst aspects of western culture referred to above.

Can Muslim romantics who want to see the return of pure Islam be persuaded of the virtues of openness, fairness, liberality and tolerance? Are these even thought of as virtues in the Islamic frame of reference?

Jack, that’s a reasonable response to my post, so I’ll ask you some reasonable questions in return. How would you address members of the umma who want to return to the 7th century? The al-Bannas of this world who want to see the expulsion of western liberalism from Muslim lands, if not its outright destruction? How would you treat their romantic attachment to a past golden age?

I personally don’t like many of the features of western culture, particularly its short-sightedness, greed, hedonism, wastefulness, destructiveness and violence. What I do like about western culture is its openness, fairness, liberality and tolerance. Islamic culture evinces few of these virtues at the present time, though it evinces many of the worst aspects of western culture referred to above.

Can Muslim romantics who want to see the return of pure Islam be persuaded of the virtues of openness, fairness, liberality and tolerance? Are these even thought of as virtues in the Islamic frame of reference?

Obviously openness, fairness, liberality, and tolerance are virtues within the Islamic framework. I would think that you already knew this. And all the things you cite as being problems with the Western world are also problems of the Orient as well. Regardless of where we locate them, they run contrary to the spirit, and even laws, of Islam.

Islam is perfectly compatable with all the praiseworthy aspects of modern society, but it is deeply incompatible with those aspects that are in fact backward and barbaric, such as greed, hedonism, wastefulness, etc. etc.

Essentially, “Islam vs. the West” are false dichotomies. There is good and evil, and grey areas in between. By Islamic standards, many, if not the majority, of “Westerner’s” act more “Islamic” than Muslims themselves.